Love Changes Everything (31 page)

When she wasn't serving then she was washing dishes, drying them, polishing the cutlery, or else wiping down the top of the counter and rearranging the salt and pepper shakers, the bottles of sauce and the bowl of sugar that were permanently kept there.

Steve did all the food preparation. He'd been a ship's cook and his training stood him in good stead. He could work efficiently and quickly and he never became flustered. No matter how many orders were piled up waiting for his attention he carried them out at an amazing speed.

Although they were both highly efficient, they were also both warm and friendly. In between preparing food, or sometimes even at the same time, Steve greeted customers in a hearty manner, took their orders and never seemed to make a mistake.

They both accepted Cilla without any fuss. Steve made her a milky drink and put a straw in it which delighted her; Sylvia let her pick her own cake from a tray of iced buns. They sat her on a little stool in a corner where she happily tucked into her little feast while they explained to Trixie what her duties would be.

Swathed in a white coat, Trixie buckled down and mucked in, serving customers, washing up or doing whatever else she was asked to do. All the time she was keeping an eye on Cilla who seemed to be quite happy sitting on the stool and watching what was going on.

From time to time, Sylvia or Steve would stop and speak to her, pass her something to eat or say something that made her chuckle. In fact, the morning passed so quickly that Jake was there to take her out before Trixie realised that it was past midday.

He stopped for about twenty minutes, having something to eat and a hot drink, then put Cilla's coat on and took her for a walk.

By the time they returned Trixie had almost finished for the day so he waited and walked home with them.

‘Well? Do you think you can stand the pace?' he asked as they walked up Water Street on their way home.

‘I've enjoyed every minute of it,' Trixie assured him.

‘I'll come down to the stall in the morning at about ten o'clock and take Cilla off your hands,' he promised.

‘You can make it later if you like. Surely you'll want the chance of having a lie-in on a Sunday morning?'

He grinned. ‘Who's been telling you about my bad habits? Was it Ivy?'

‘No one told me, I simply guessed. After all, you have to be up very early all through the week so it's only natural that you'd want a lie-in on Sunday.'

‘True. So if you think you can manage with Cilla for an hour or so I'll come down mid-morning.'

‘I can probably manage all day if I have to.' She smiled. ‘Steve and Sylvia are so nice to us, I've never enjoyed work so much in my life; it's certainly different to being in a factory.'

‘She's behaved well today because it's all been new to her but the novelty of watching you work will wear off and she might like to go for a walk tomorrow,' he told her firmly.

Trixie enjoyed the new routine. It was something to look forward to all week. Daisy saw Jake walking home with them once or twice and she assumed that Trixie had taken Cilla round to see Ella, and Trixie saw no reason to tell her anything different.

‘If that's what she wants to think then that's fine,' she told Jake. ‘It means that as long as she doesn't know I have a job I have no need to tell her and I can save all the money I earn towards getting a room of my own and then Cilla and me can move out.'

She'd thought he would think that was a good idea and she was surprised when he started to speak and then suddenly stopped and said nothing.

When she pressed him to find out if he agreed it was the best thing to do he was somewhat evasive and changed the subject. Instead of talking about her problems he began telling her about the arrangements Ivy and Hadyn were making for their wedding and how his mother was hoping that they would decide to live there.

‘How do you feel about that?' she asked.

He shrugged. ‘I don't suppose it will make a lot of difference to me and if it's what Mum wants, then I hope they do. I think she's afraid that if they move away she won't see very much of them.'

‘Or if you decide to get married and leave home then she will be on her own,' Trixie said thoughtfully.

‘I don't think there's a lot of chance of that happening, do you?' he said with a bitter note in his voice.

Trixie looked at him, startled. ‘Why ever not? I'm sure you'll meet someone one day and want to get married and have a home of your own,' she told him.

‘Maybe I've already met her,' he said quietly.

‘You dark horse!' she teased. ‘I've never heard you mention any girl that you were sweet on.'

He didn't answer and from the look on his face she decided that it was a subject he didn't want to talk about, so she said no more. Nevertheless, she wondered what had happened to make him look so uncomfortable when she'd mentioned the subject.

She kept thinking about it after they'd parted and hoped things would turn out all right for him because he was such a kind and helpful person that he deserved to be happy. She even found herself feeling a little jealous that he had found someone who obviously meant so much to him while she was still not sure about Andrew's feelings for her.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Trixie thoroughly enjoyed working at Steve's Snacks and a real friendship developed between Steve, Sylvia and herself. The new routine soon became so well established that Trixie and Cilla both looked forward to the weekends because it took them away from the flat and Daisy.

Trixie also enjoyed being able to talk to the customers; in some ways it compensated for the fact that Andrew was away and most of the time, if it hadn't been for Jake, she would have been very lonely.

Cilla soon understood that that while Trixie was busy serving customers she must stay quiet. She would sit on her special little stool watching everything that was going on in wide-eyed wonder or else playing with her doll or looking at a picture book.

On one or two occasions when Jake needed to go somewhere on his own, Steve and Sylvia accepted that Cilla would be staying the entire day with Trixie. They made no fuss about it but even went out of their way to keep Cilla entertained.

Cilla didn't seem to mind. She would chatter away happily to either of them. Lately Trixie noticed Cilla had become much more observant and now that she was older she was beginning to understand a great deal about what went on around her, and some of the things she said troubled Trixie.

When she was with Sylvia she seemed to open up and confide a great many things about what happened when she was at home; many of which seemed to either shock or worry Sylvia.

Afterwards Sylvia often tactfully worked the conversation round to talking about some of the things Cilla had told her and this embarrassed Trixie. Whenever possible she merely smiled in a non-committal way and tried to change the subject. Sylvia could be persistent, though, especially when Cilla appeared with bruises on her arms or weals on her legs where Daisy had hit her, and she would deliberately question Cilla to find out how she had come by them.

‘For poor little Cilla's sake, you ought to get away from this Daisy,' Sylvia admonished Trixie, her sharp blue eyes full of concern as she placed a cup of tea in front of her.

‘I know, and that's what I'm trying to do. That's why I'm working at weekends, to try and save up enough to rent a room for us well away from her and my dad.'

‘You'll never be able to afford to support yourself independently on what you earn here.' Sylvia frowned, wiping down the counter so vigorously that everything on it rattled.

‘No,' Trixie sighed. ‘I'm beginning to realise that. I've tried to save every penny I earn, and I have, except for a few things that I've had to buy for Cilla, but it doesn't add up to much.'

‘Of course it doesn't! Why don't you find yourself some other work during the week?'

‘It's not easy. I dare not leave Cilla at home on her own because of Daisy, and no one's willing to employ you if you have a young child with you all the time, especially one like Cilla. You and steve have been the exception to the rule,' she added gratefully.

Sylvia smiled. ‘She's no trouble at all and extremely obedient. I'm sure you could take her with you absolutely anywhere.'

‘Would you have taken me on if I'd said I had to bring Cilla with me if Jake hadn't put in a good word for me?' Trixie asked bluntly as she tidied the counter.

Sylvia looked thoughtful. ‘Probably not,' she agreed. ‘I understand what you're saying, so I think the answer is for you to find another job where someone can recommend you and explain to your new employer about Cilla.'

‘That's not going to be easy,' Trixie sighed. ‘I was very lucky over this job because you knew Jake well enough to trust what he said about me.'

‘What's worked successfully once can happen again,' Sylvia told her optimistically as she folded up the cleaning cloths and tidied them away.

It was almost a month later when Sylvia told Trixie that she had found the perfect job for her.

‘It's a cleaning job, but you wouldn't mind that, would you?' she said forcefully. ‘It's every evening from six o'clock till about eight. It's at the chiropodist's in Cazneau Street. That's not all that far from where you live, but you must be on time because he would want to let you in before he left and then when you leave you slam the door behind you and it will lock itself.'

‘You've explained that I will have to take Cilla with me?' Trixie asked tentatively. It sounded perfect, but she didn't want to get her hopes up too quickly.

‘Of course! He said that will be no problem as there will be no one else there. You must make sure that she doesn't touch anything, of course,' Sylvia warned.

‘She won't, I'll make sure of that,' Trixie promised earnestly.

‘That's exactly what I said to Mr Browning.' Sylvia nodded. ‘I also told him how good she is when she comes here at the weekends and he seemed to be quite impressed. I've said you will go along on Monday afternoon so that he can explain everything to you. He's hoping you will be able to start right away.'

‘It sounds ideal,' Trixie told her. ‘I'll be there on time, don't worry, and I'll let you know next Saturday how I've got on.'

Mr Browning was a tall, thin man, meticulously dressed in a dark suit under a knee-length white coat. He wore glasses and his sparse black hair was receding rapidly from his high forehead. He had a nervous habit of rubbing his hands together while he talked. His fingers were so long that Trixie felt mesmerised by them.

Her list of duties was very explicit; he showed her where all the cleaning materials were kept and asked her to make sure they were stored away in precisely the same order when she'd finished using them and to lock the cupboard door.

‘I like order in my consulting room so I must ask you to make sure that when you do the cleaning you return every item to precisely the same place where you found it. When I am attending to my clients I want to be able to put my hand on instruments, lotions and everything else I use instantaneously. Do you understand?'

Trixie assured him she did and they agreed she would start work right away.

‘You will be bringing this little girl with you each time?' he questioned.

‘Yes, Mr Browning. I have to bring my sister; I have no one I can leave her with, I'm afraid.'

He studied Cilla from over the top of his glasses. ‘Doesn't she go to school?'

‘No.' Trixie shook her head. ‘She can read and write her own name, though. I've taught her to do that at home. And she can count and add up,' she added proudly.

‘Can you make her understand that she mustn't touch anything here?' he asked, frowning.

‘Don't worry, she's very well behaved,' Trixie assured him. ‘I'll bring some books with me and she'll sit and look at those while I'm working like she does at the snack bar,' she added.

‘I see!' He pursed his thin lips thoughtfully.

Trixie felt her heart thumping as he rubbed a hand over his chin. She desperately wanted him to give her the job, especially after Sylvia had seemed so certain that it was right for her. She wondered if she ought to say something to try and convince him or whether it was better to stay silent and let him think it through on his own.

‘Well, I think we'd better agree to a week's trial and see how things work out,' he agreed at length. ‘You'll be here at six o'clock this evening, right?'

‘Yes, and thank you, Mr Browning. I'll do my best to give complete satisfaction.'

Trixie went home feeling elated. The wages were not very much but they would be regular. If she saved every penny and added it to what she earned at Steve's place then, in about three months, time, she was confident she would be able to afford to finally leave Virgil Street and rent a place for herself and Cilla.

She wondered how long it would be before Daisy found out that she was working. So far her weekends at the snack bar seemed to have passed unnoticed.

Fortunately, whenever Daisy asked Cilla where they'd been she never answered. Her behaviour annoyed Daisy and often resulted in her calling Cilla a ‘daft little idiot' but, as a result, so far she'd never found out the truth about what they were doing.

Leaving the house at half past five every evening and not coming home again till after eight o'clock, was another matter, though, and Trixie realised that sooner or later Daisy was bound to notice and start asking questions.

Furthermore, Trixie mused, she'd have to give Cilla her tea before they went out and the fact that she was doing this earlier than usual would arouse Daisy's curiosity if she was at home.